Sunderland Spartans
Sunderland play in the British Universities American Football League (BUAFL) in the Northern Conference 1. Sunderland returned to the British Collegiate American Football League (BCAFL) in 2004-05 season after being out of competition for five seasons. The Kings had had a rough tenure in the league, with only one winning season and no playoff appearances in eight seasons. The Kings were reorganized and set to compete in the BCAFL Northern Conference's Eastern Division. The team was known as the Sunderland Wearwolves between 1992 and 1999. In its time the team went through a number of changes, including several change of team colours (Blue & White, Blue & Gold, and finally Black & Yellow). At the end of the 1994 season saw the retirement of the teams' Head Coach and founder, Ian Wilton. Frank McParlin was appointed as head coach, he had years of game experience and new defensive strategies. He also brought along three other new coaches: Robert Lakeman, Keith Lakeman and John Anderson American football at Sunderland was still in its infancy and year after year recruitment of new players was a struggle. After the strain on the clubs' finances, development, growth and even facilities became too much, a decision was made to pull out of BCAFL, hopefully to rectify some of the problems that had affected the team. For a couple of years the situation remained the same, until the coaching staff approached the University and asked if they could attend the 2000 fresher fayre themselves to rebuild the American football team. This was granted and so the coaches set about planning a new team, with a new team name, colours and logo. A committee and team were set up and to work together with the coaches and try and rejoin BCAFL. In the 2004-2005 season, the Kings were re-entered into BCAFL. The team managed to play all their fixtures over the season, finishing 1-7. In the 2005-2006 season the Kings gained their first sponsorship which allowed much needed kit and accessories to be bought for the club. They also gained new coaching from various resources brought in by Frank McParlin. They went 2 - 0 in their first two games before a hard game against Leeds brought an end to the winning streak. The Kings finished the season 2-5-1. After the season ended a few changes were made. After 13 years of service Frank McParlin, Rob Lakeman and Keith Lakeman stepped down as coaches. A new Head Coach was appointed in the form of David Nimmins who has had a long football career ranging from college to international level. After a brief stint as Coach David Nimmins had to step down for personal reasons, this led to ex player and Gateshead Senator; Ross Elliott taking the helm at the club. After 10 years of struggling and hard fought games the Kings, with a new coach and new funding a name change was decided to take the Sunderland franchise to the next level. The 2008-2009 season started terribly for the Spartans with a squad largely made up with rookies they stated their campaign losing 3 straight games including 2 shut outs against Newcastle and the UWS Pyros. After the Christmas break Sunderland came back with renewed enthusiasm and drive starting with a 30-0 win over Napier and following it up with hard fought wins against Teesside, Northumbria and Glasgow. The season ended disappointingly however narrowly missing the playoffs as their final league game against Stirling was cancelled giving them a 4-3-1 record. This however did allow Sunderland to qualify for the challenge trophy semi-final where sunderland lost a close game against Hallam 13-6. Team Records by Season External links * Sunderland Spartans * Sunderland Spartans on BUAFL Category:BUAFL teams